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Channels

A channel lets you talk to your swarm from a messaging app instead of the dashboard. Today the only channel is Messages (iMessage, with a fallback transport when iMessage is unavailable). Other channels, such as Discord, are not planned at the moment. You manage it at Dashboard > Channels (/dashboard/channels).

A channel is another way to reach agents you already have. It does not create a new agent, and it grants no new spending or integration permission: each member keeps its own context, permissions, budget and delegation rules.

Channels are managed in the web app only. This is a recorded exception to CLI and web parity (ADR-0241): setting up a channel needs a signed-in browser session, so there is no CLI command for it.

Channels are being rolled out account by account. If your account does not have access yet, the page says "iMessage is not available for this account yet" and setup is disabled.

Connecting Messages

Connecting takes two proofs, one from your phone and one from your signed-in dashboard, so a display name or a spoofed sender cannot claim your account.

  1. Sign in to the web app and open Dashboard > Channels.
  2. Choose the swarm members you want to address directly, your reply preferences, and select Get pairing phrase.
  3. The page shows a contact number and a pairing phrase. Send the exact phrase to that contact from your phone number, not from an iMessage email address.
  4. Confirm the connection in the dashboard.

A pairing phrase expires. If it lapses, start again to get a new one. Changing your settings or disconnecting cancels any older pairing attempt.

Talking to your swarm

Address one of the members you selected in your message. The request is queued like any other job for that member, and its final result comes back to you in Messages. The dashboard lists recent channel requests and whether each was received and delivered over iMessage or a fallback.

Reply options:

  • Full text replies sends the member's whole answer. A full answer can include context from earlier work, and passes through the messaging provider.
  • Without full text, you get a short notice and read the answer in the dashboard.
  • Transport: "iMessage with fallback" is the available option. "iMessage only" is not yet available.

Pause, STOP and disconnect

  • Pause: messaging stops until you send /resume. Work already accepted continues.
  • STOP: opts this number out of messaging. /resume cannot override STOP; you must verify your phone again in the dashboard to reconnect.
  • Disconnect (in the dashboard): new instructions and replies over Messages stop. Work already accepted continues in your dashboard, and reconnecting needs a fresh phone verification.

These controls govern messaging only. To stop an agent's work, use the agent's own controls in the dashboard.

Delivery and privacy

  • Messages are carried by a third-party provider, which processes message content and phone identities. Your phone number is stored encrypted and is never shown to agents.
  • Each request is stored before it is acknowledged, and duplicates from the provider are ignored, so a message is not run twice.
  • Delivery is not guaranteed exactly once. If a send is uncertain, the reply stays marked unknown until the provider confirms it, and a resend delivers the saved answer without running the agent again.

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